Sopwith Snail

The Sopwith 8F.1 Snail was a prototype light fighter of the First World War, abandoned because of an unreliable engine. Herbert Smith designed it for the Air Board specification A.1A, which asked for a light fighter with better performance than the Camel. It was a small single-bay biplane powered by the 170 hp ABC Wasp radial engine. An order for six prototypes was placed on 31 October 1917 with conventional wood and fabric construction, then revised in November to build two with a plywood monocoque fuselage. The first prototype, with the conventional fuselage and so designated Snail Mk.II, flew in April 1918, with the pilot seated under a large cut-out in the upper wing and two synchronised Vickers guns.